Toe pulling pincer device



May 4 i943- A. L. RUSSELL x-:T AL

TOE PULLING FINGER DEVICE 0 `ginal Filed April 30, `194:1

4 Sheets-Sheet l May 4, 1943 A. l.. RUSSELL ETAL 2,38,104

TOE PULLING PINCER DEVICE Original Filed April 30, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet -2 122 11a m2 2a fea '1M 26 o f/ l2 3.

May 4, 1943. A. L. RUSSELL ET AL l 2,318,104

TOE PULLING PINCER DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 4 1943- A. x..RUssELL ETAL TOE PULLING PINCER DEVICE Original Filed April .'50, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 THS #WE/v Patented May 4, 1943 UNETE Tr" ATENT OFFICE T013 PULLmG FINGER DEVICE originati application April so, 1941, serial No. 391,106. Divided and this application June 16, 1942, serialNo. 447,226

19 Claims.

"'Ihis invention relates to upper-stretching apparatus and is herein illustrated in its application to a pincer device particularly adapted to be employed in practicing the method of making shoes which is the subject of our copending application Serial No. 391,106, filed April 30, 1941, of which the present application is a division.

In shaping shoe uppers over lasts, it is a usual shoemaking practice to assemble the shoe upper parts, usually comprising a lined upper and a cement-treated counter, and to secure them loosely to the heel end of an insole on a last bottom by means of a tack or tacks driven through the bottom margins of the shoe parts and the margin of the insole in the region of the backseam of the upper, and thereafter to tension the upper lengthwise in a machine having a toe gripper for performing the lengthwise tensioning operation. It frequently happens that the lengthwise tension thus applied disarranges the shoe parts and, consequently, before proceeding with the side lasting operation, the parts must be restored Yto their original assembled position. If the ce- -nent on the counter has set during the interval between the upper tensioning and side lasting Vsecured to a last bottom. For securing it to the last, the illustrated carrier is provided with a plurality of pins constructed and arranged to enter suitable sockets in the bottom of the last and to engage a plate on the last bottom thereby to hold the carrier against movement away from the last bottom. The illustrated upper-stretching member is a toe gripper mounted on the carrier and provided with an actuator herein illustrated as a hand lever for moving the gripper in a direction to apply lengthwise tension to the upper. The illustrated device includes means in the form of aV spring which is energized by the operation of the hand lever to exert a continuing force against the toe gripper to cause it to maintain a continuing longitudinal tension on the upper. The illustrated carrier comprises a base member and a slide on which the toe gripper is mounted -an .upper-stretching apparatus embodying the Vfeatures of the present invention, said apparatus and means for adjusting the slide lengthwise of the upper after the gripper has been operated to enable theoperator to locate the tip seam accurately lengthwise of the last. To aIord width- Wise adjustment of the toe portion of the upper after the toe gripper has been operated, the toe gripper mechanism is mounted on the slide for swinging movement about an axis extending heightwise of the'last. Y A

The illustrated upper-stretching apparatus is adaptable to either hand methods or machine methods of lasting shoe uppers sinceit is portable With the last and does not interfere with the mounting of the last on a bench spindle or other supporting means for holding the last during the hand lasting operation nor does it interlfere with the mounting of the last on the work supportv of a. heel-seat-lasting machine or on the toe and heel supports of a bed-lasting machine. Neither would it interfere with the lasting of the side portions ofthe upper by means `of ka machine, such, for example, as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 1,815,295, granted July 2l, 1931, on an application George Goddu. I l

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appended claims. Y

In the drawings: c Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating a jack and Fig. 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a plan view illustrating the toestretching device and rear-part-clamping means v in operation on an upper on its last;

Fig. 9 is a section on the line IX--IX of Fig. and

Fig. is a perspective view illustrating the jack, the upper-stretching apparatus and an upper as it appears after the upper-stretching operation has been completed.

The illustrated toe-stretching device comprises a gripper which consists of a jaw Si) (Figs. 2 and 3) constructed and arranged to engage the outer or grain face of the upper and a jaw 62 which engages the inner surface of the upper. The Outer jaw 6E) is formed in a hollow cylindrical slide 64 the outer end portion 65 of which has its lower portion cut away to provide clearance for the movement of the jaw 62. The slide 64 is mounted on the hollow shank portion 67 of the gripper jaw S2. The gripper assembly is slidably mounted in a collar 66 which, as shown in Fig. 5, is provided with trunnion pins 68 which turn in bearing members lf3. The shank portion 67 of the inner gripper jaw 62 is provided with a longitudinal bore l2 (Fig. 2) in which slides a stem '14 projecting from a plunger 16 which is slidably mounted in a counterbore in said shank portion. The grippers are operated by movement of the plunger l to the right, as seen in Fig. 2, said plunger acting through a spring 'I3 surrounding the stem 'i4 and conned between the end face of the plunger and the base of the counterbore in the shank portion of the inner gripper jaw to move the inner jaw toward the outer jaw. The stem I4 carries a cross pin 88 (Fig. 3) which extends into longitudinal slots 82 in the shank portion of the gripper jaw 62. This cross pin prevents the spring 18 from drawing the stem 14 out of the bore 12 and also enables the plunger 15 by movement to the left, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, to open the gripper jaws. After the gripper jaws are closed on the upper, continued advancement of the plunger 'it moves the gripper as a unit to the right, as seen in Fig. 3, to impart longitudinal tension to the upper.

During such bodily movement of the gripper the slide 64 which carries the outer gripper jaw moves through the collar 6d compressing a spring 84 surrounding the shank portion 64 and coniined between the collar 65 anda collar 86 clamped to the end of the slide 64. It will be understood that the spring 34 serves to retract the gripper assembly into its rest position. For operating thegripper the plunger 16 has an eX- tension 83 (Fig. 1) which serves as a hand lever .which the operator moves downwardly first to collar 66 and that the resulting upper-stretching movement has components both lengthwise and heightwise of the last. The gripper is held in the position illustrated in Fig. 3 with the upper under tension by a spring-pressed latch 95 which `engages a slabbed oi extension of a cross pin 98 connecting the plunger 1S and the link 9|). For

'opening the gripper jaws after the upper-stretching operation has been completed. a torsion spring lili]k (Fig. 5) is mounted on and anchored to an outward extension of the crc'ss pin 92 and i its free end is arranged to engage the link 9E).

After the gripper has been operated to apply lengthwise tension to the upper, the last and upper may be swung upwardly into their slightiy backwardly inclined position, illustrated in Fig. i0, in order to enable the operator to examine the toe portion oi the upper on the last to determine whether any lengthwise or widthwise adjustment of the upper is required to bring the tip line or the throat into proper relation to the last. If lengthwise adjustment is required, a hand lever iil is operated to move the gripper bodily toward or from the toe end of the last as may be required, said hand lever operating through mechanism hereinafter described. 1f widthwise adjustment is required to correct the position of the throat opening, the gripper assembly is swung about an axis extending heightwise of the last at the heelward extremity of the toe-stretching device. In order to provide for such adjustments, the base portion of the toe-stretching device comprises three plates, namely, a base piate H24 (Figs. 2 and 3), an intei-mediate plate E535 constructed and arranged to slide vlengthwise of the last on the base plate, and a top plate i which carries the bearing members 'ill and the post g4 and is arranged to swing widthwise of the last on the intermediate plate. The base of the post 94 is bored to receive a roll ll mounted on a stud ||2 secured to the intermediate plate i. The roll ||0 provides the fulcrum on which the top plate |8 together with the upper-stretching mechanism swings to aiord widthwise adjustment of the toe portion of the upper. For removably anchoring the toe-stretching device to the last, the base plate |54 has three downwardly extending pins iid which enter sockets I i6 provided in the last 28 and are notched to engage a metal plate ||8 secured to the sole face of the last and arranged to project slightly beyond the heelward extremities of said sockets to enter the notches provided in the pins lid, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The lengthwise strain on the upper, when the toestretching device is in its operative position, illustrated in Fig. 3, urges the device heelwardly and thus holds the pins ||4 in position to engage the last plate H8. The intermediate plate |06 is held against separation from the base plate m4 by hollow pins |29 which, as illustrated in Fig. 2, are internally threaded to receive headed screws |22. The pin-and-screw assemblies |20, I2? extend through longitudinal T-slots |24 provided in the base plate |i4,- said slots afford-ing adjustment of the gripper assembly lengthwise of the last (Fig. 7). For effecting such'longitudinal adjustment of the gripper assembly, the hand lever |02 is pivoted at |26 (Fig. 8') to the base plate lli and carries an upwardly extendinCr eccentric stud |728 which operates in a transverse groove |35! (Figs. '7 and 8) in the bottom oi the intermediate plate lii. A segmental portion of the base plate is cut out, as indicated by dotted lines |32 in Fig. '7, to provide clearance for the operation of the lever Ill-2. To hold the lever in adjusted position, the bottom surface of the intermediate plate |536 is provided with ratchet teeth |34 (Fig. li)v and the lever H12 is provided with a suitable detent |35. In order to permitwidthwise swinging movement of the gripper assembly about the roll I I', the top plate |98 is provided with arcuate slots |38 (Fig. 5) which receive the headed. ends of the pins To hold the top plate in adjusted position widthwise of the last, an eccentric clamping disk |49- (Figs. 5 and 9) is pivoted between ears |42 -intermediate plate S.

@extending upwardly from the top plate |08' at `opposite sides of a slot'l44 through which the disk extends for clamping engagement with the The disk |40 is operated by the expansion of a spring |45 mounted in an extension 543 of the disk and arranged to act against the top plate I, and is released by -pressure against the headed end of said extension.

For supporting a last and an upper thereon Vduring the upper-stretching operation, a jack (Fig. 1) is mounted on a bench standard lil.

VThe illustrated jack is provided with a toe rest i2 and a last pin I4 extending upwardly from a .block IS. The block I6 is arranged for rotary movement about a horizontal axis by securing it toa sleeve l1 journaled in parallel arms 2i! (Figs. 1 and 10) of a carriage 22. This arrangement of the block IB permits a supported last and upper, for example, the upper 2B and last stem 24 which is journaled in the standard I0 to permit the jack and the shoe thereon to swing freely about a vertical axis to enable the operator to arrange the shoe to the best advantage for hand lasting opposite side portions thereof.

For holding the rear part of the upper against -the last 28 a heel band 3S is supported and actuated by a carrier comprising .parallel arms 32 (Fig. 10) secured to opposite ends of a cross shaft i8 journaled in the sleeve Il and arranged -to project outwardly therefrom. At their upper ends the arms 32 have heads 34 which are drilled and counterbored (Fig. 1) in the direction 0i the length of the shoe to receive stems 36 having heads 38 which 4are onset inwardly from the stems (Fig. 5) and pivoted between lugs 39 on plates 45 secured to the opposite sides of the heel band. The stems 3E are surrounded by springs 42 which are conned between the basesV of the counterbores in the heads 34 and washers. on the ends of the stems. When these springs are energized by the operation of the -arms 32 they exert a continuous pull on the oppositeends of the heel band Se to hold the rear part of the upper in position on the last during the operation of the toe-stretching device hereinafter described. For operating the arms 32 a handle l4G extends at nearly a right angle from one of the arms. rihe handle 4E is operated intwo stages, iirst, to clamp the back-seam portion of the upper, counter and lining against the end of the last and, at a later stage in the operations on the shoe, to move the end portions of the band inwardly thereby to clamp the upper, counter and lining at opposite sides of the heel portion of the upper against the last. During the rst stage of the operation of the handle 46, the springs 42 are only slightly compressed and, consequently, there is only slight movement of the heads 34 relatively to the end portions of the heel band Si); but during the second stage inthe operation of the handle 46, the heads 34 move toewardly relatively to the heel band 3] Vand ex- .ert a camming action on wedge-shaped members 47 (Fig. 5) to move the endportions of the heel band inwardly from their position in Fig. ,to their positionillustrated in Fig. r6v against. the

-tact with the counter.

action of spring plates 53 which tend to move the end portions of the band outwardly into their open position. Said wedge-shaped members are secured by screws 49 to outturned end portions.

5| of the heel band. The outer edge faces of said wedge members are arranged to diverge toewardly of the upper, said divergent portions of the wedges having tongue-and-groove connections with similarly divergent portions of the heads 34. The outer portions of the wedges are recessed longitudinally to provide clearance for the springs 42. During the operations of the heel band, the last 28 is rigidly held by the last -pin I4 which is itself held againstfswinging movement by a pin 58 projecting outwardly from one of the arms 2d and arranged to engage a shoulder 59 provided in the block `lli. For holding the heel band 30 in upper-gripping position the handle 46 carries a spring-pressed 'detent 48 which engages ratchet teeth 50 in the end face of an arm 52 secured to the sleeve I1. ing the last and upper in the position illustrated in Fig. 1f), the block i6 is provided with an extension 54 having a radial face 56 (Fig. 1) which engages the pin 53 to hold the block I6 at the limit of its counterclockwise movement.

In employing the illustrated upper-stretching apparatus in the practice of the method disclosed in our copending application hereinbefore referred to, a counter to which a slow-setting adhesive has been applied is assembled in the usual manner with a lined upper. -While it is within the scope of the invention to assemble the upper and counter with the last. in any known manner, we prefer to employ for this purpose a machine such as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent 2,162,802, granted June 20, 1939, on an application of Karl Engel. This machine dips a molded counter into the counter adhesive, then moves the counter into position for assembly with the upper. The upper is then positioned relatively to the counter, preferably with the quarter lining drawn out of the upper to facilitate the the bottom opening of the upper and then turned on a transverse axis to wipe the heel endof the last downwardly against the quarter lining thereby to work the quarter lining smoothly into con- The last with the upper and counter thereon are then transferred from the Engel machine to the jack illustrated in Fig. 1. The heel band 30 is rst advanced into its po- 'sition illustrated in Fig. 5 in which position it clamps the back-seam portion of the upper against the last but leaves the breast line por.- tions of the upper, counter and lining sufficiently free to permit the operator to tension the shoe parts heightwise of the last, as may be required in the breast line lasting operation. The toestretching device is now positioned on the last bottom and located in predetermined position by the engagement of the pins H4 in their sockets whereupon the lasting margin at the toe end of the upper is positionedk between the gripper jaws and the hand lever 88 is moved downwardly first to close the jaws and then to apply lengthwise tension to the upper, the spring 84 yielding to avoid injury to the upper bythe operation ofthe "hand lever.

In some cases it may be found desirable to operate the Iupper-stretching device before bringing the Vheel band into .clampingengagement with the back-seam portion of the up- For hold- Y per. to apply heightwise tension to the back-.seam

-means of the usual hand lasting pincers.

t might, for example, be found desirable portion of the upper after the toe-stretching device has been operated to tension the upper lengthwise. After Aclamping the back-seam portion of the upper against the last and tensioning the upper lengthwise by means of the toe-stretching device, the last and upper are tilted upwardly intotheir position illustrated in Fig. to enable the operator to inspect the upper to determine Whether the tip and throat are correctly positioned on the last. f While the upper is in this position, any required adjustment is made by either operating the lever E92 or swinging the gripper assembly laterally as may be necessary.

VInasmuch as no fastenings have been driven through the upper and into the last up to this point, any required adjustment is easily and quickly made. The jack is now swung back into its horizontal position to locate the last and upper for the ball lasting and breast line lasting operations which are manually performed by The order oi these two operations may be varied with different types of work butin most cases the ball lasting will be performed rst while the side portions of the upper are entirely free from toe to heel to respond to the ball lasting pulls. The swivel mounting of the jack enables the operator to pull up and fasten the ball portion at the inner or great toe side of the upper and then rotate the jack to position the upper conveniently for pulling and fastening the ball portion at the opposite side. In the breast line lasting V,operation, the operator is concerned mainly with the ;j.V

correct positioning of the wings of the counter relatively to the upper and lining and to the last. It is therefore important that whatever the sequence of lasting operations may be, the breast line lasting be performed before the adhesive on the counter has begun to Set.

After the lasting of the breast line portions of the upper has been completed, the lever 4S is further depressed to cause the heel band to clamp the breast line portions against the last. The breast line portions of the upper may now be secured in position by manually working the lasting margin over the insole and securing it by suitable fastenings, for example, tacks ISU illustrated in Fig. 3.

In order to complete the preparation of the upper for the tce lasting operation Ithe tip portion of the upper is now tensioned heightwise of the last to bring it into intimate contact with the last and secured to the insole on the last bottom. rhis operation is preferably performed manually while the last and upper are still held by the jack. After a nal inspection of the upper, the heel band 3!) is released and the last and upper are removed from the jack.

The upper is now in condition for the side lasting and heel end lasting operations, the sequence of which is of no importance so far as this invention is concerned. Preferably, the side portions of the upper would be lasted in a machine such, for example, as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 1,815,295, hereinbefore referred to. This machine draws the upper heightwise of the last and inwardly over the insole and secures the upper to the insole by means of staples. VThe heel end of the upper is preferably lasted in a machine such, for example, as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 1,558,737, granted October 27, 1925, on an application of Ronald F. McFeely,

For lasting the toe portion of the upper, the last and upper are positioned in a bed lasting machine such. for example, as that illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 1,495,169, granted May 27, 1924, on an application of Joseph Fausse et al., and while the toe portion of the upper is still held by the upper-stretching device the exible toe band with which the machine illustrated in said patent is provided is brought into clamping engagement with the toe portion of the upper to hold it in position on the last. After thus clamping the toe portion of the upper to the last, the upper-stretching device is released from the upper by merely releasing the latch 96 and thus permitting the torsion spring |00 to open the gripper jaws and to retract them into their rest position, shown in Fig. 2, leaving the device free to be pushed forward and lifted 01T the last bottom. After the device has been removed the bed lasting machine is operated in the usual manner to last the toe portion of the upper, the upper being ysecured in lasted position either by cement or by tacks driven by means of the hand tacker with which the bed lasting machine is usually provided. This completes the lasting of the upper and the succeeding operations are performed in vthe usual manner.

While the upper-stretching apparatus of the present invention has been illustrated and described in conjunction with the practice of the method of our copending application, it is to be understood that our present invention is not thus limited in its scope since the upper-stretching apparatus obviously may be employed in the practice of other shoe-making methods. Furthermore, the illustrated apparatus is not limited to use with the jack above described but could be applied to the upper after the upper has been vassembled on the last and secured thereto in the usual manner.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a gripper and a carrier for the gripper having means whereby the carrier may be removably secured to a last motion.

2. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a gripper constructed and arranged to tension an upper lengthwise, and a carrier for the gripper having means whereby the carrier may be removably anchored to a last bottom.

3. Upper -stretching apparatus comprising upper-engaging means, a carrier for said upperrengaging means, and a member projecting from `V the carrier for engagement within a recess in a last bottom to hold the carrier in position on the last.

4. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a gripper constructed and arranged to engage the lasting' margin of a shoe upper, and a carrier for the gripper having means whereby the carrier maybe removably mounted on a last.

5` Upper-stretching apparatus comprising an upper-engaging member, a carrier therefor, and a plurality of pins projecting from the carrier for engagement within suitable sockets in the bottom of a last.

6. :Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a gripper constructed and arranged to impart a continuing longitudinal pull to a shoe upper on a last, and a carrier for the gripper having means for removably holding it in predetermined relation to a last. l

7. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising an upper-stretching member, a carrier therefor, and

ing means whereby the carrier may be removably held on a last bottom, and means on the carrier for actuating the upper-stretching member.

9. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a gripper, a carrier for the gripper having means whereby,1 the carrier may be removably secured to a last bottom, and an actuator on the carrier `for moving the gripper in a direction to tension am upper over the last.

10. Upper-stretching apparatus Comprising an L.;

upper-stretching member, a carrier therefor having'means whereby the carrier may be removably held on a last bottom, means on the carrier for actuating the upper-stretching member, and means for locking the actuator against return movement.

11. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising an upper-stretching member, a carrier therefor having means whereby the carrier may be removably held on a last bottom, means on the carrier for actuating the upper-stretching member, and means for locking the actuator against return movement with the upper-stretching member at the limit of its upper-stretching movement.

l2. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising an upper-stretching member, a carrier therefor having means whereby the carrier may be removably secured to a last bottom, an actuator on the carrier for moving the upper-stretching member in a direction to tension an upper over the last, and means energized by the actuator for exerting a continuing force against the upper-stretching member to cause it to impart a continuing longitudinal pull to a shoe upper.

13. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base member having means for removably holding it on a last, a slide mounted on the base member for movement lengthwise of the last, a carrier mounted on the slide for swinging movement about an axis extending heightwise of the last, and an upper-stretching member mounted on the carrier for operative movement generally lengthwise of the last.

14. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base plate, anchoring members extending from i the base plate for engagement within recesses provided in the bottom of a last, a slide mounted on the base plate for rectilinear movement lengthwise of the last, a carrier swiveled at the heelward end of the slide for swinging movement about an axis extending heightwise of the last, and a gripper mounted on the carrier for operative movement lengthwise and heightwise of the last.

15. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base plate, anchoring members extending from the base plate for engagement within recesses provided in the bottom of a last, a slide mounted on the base plate for rectilinear movement lengthwise of the last, a carrier swiveled at the L, heelward end of the slide for swinging movement about an axis extending heightwise of the last, a gripper mounted on the carrier for movement lengthwise and heightwise of the last, a gripper actuator mounted on the carrier, and means on the carrier for locking the actuator against return movement.

16. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base member having means for removably holding it on a last, a slide mounted on a base member for movement lengthwise of the last, a manually operable eccentric constructed and arranged to impart such movement to the slide, and an uppenstretching member carried by the slide.

17. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base member having means for removably securing it to a last, a slide mounted on the base member for movement lengthwise of the last, an upper-stretching member carried by the slide, an eccentric constructed and arranged to move the slide on the base member, and a hand lever for operating said eccentric.

18. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base member having means for removably anchoring it to a last, a slide mounted on the base member for movement lengthwise of the last, means for imparting such movement to the slide, and an upper-stretching member carried by the slide.

19. Upper-stretching apparatus comprising a base member having means for removably anchoring it to a last, a slide mounted on the base member for movement lengthwise of the last, means for imparting such movement to the slide,

a carrier mounted on the slide for swinging movei ment about an axis extending heightwise of the on the carrier for operativemovement generally la'st, and an upper-stretching member mounted lengthwise of the last.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL. WM. MALCOLM WATSON.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,518,10Lp. May u, 19M.

ARTHUR L. RUSSELL, ET AL.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification ofthe above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page I4., second column, Iline LL?, claim l, for "motion" read -bottom; and that the saidv Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

signed and sealed this y15th day of July, A. D. 19M.

l Henry Van Arsda1e 4 (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

